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Chichen
Itza - One of the NEW 7 Wonders
 Chichen
Itza is without doubt the most famous of all Yucatan
Mayan ruins and is a very large city. Tours leave from
Cancun & Playa del Carmen every day, but it is recommended
that you hire a car & find your own way there.Tours
only allow for about 2 hours of visiting, and this is
hardly enough time to see the site. It is easy to reach
by car with well marked signs all the way. If you want
to take pictures without a hundred people in them, it
is recommend going fairly early in the morning. Tour
groups don't usually arrive until about 10:30 hrs, If
you go by car, you might want to pay a guide because
Chichen Itza is definitely a site with an interesting
history and the guides on the site are very knowledgeable.
 Possibly
the best known construction on the site is El Castillo
(Kukulkan-Quetzalcoatl), a square-based, stepped pyramid
that is approximately 75 feet tall. El Castillo is certainly
the greatest challenge as each step is like stepping
up onto a chair. This pyramid was built for astronomical
purposes and during the vernal equinox (March 20) and
the autumnal equinox (September 21) at about 15:00hrs
the sunlight bathes the western balustrade of the pyramid's
main stairway. This causes a series of triangles to
form imitating the body of a serpent that creeps downwards
until it joins the serpent's head carved in stone at
the bottom of the stairway. Thousands of people visit
the site on this day (a record 80,000 in 1997) so if
you hate crowds, you might want to avoid the site on
these days. Every evening, the site reproduces the effect
with a light and sound show.
 The
pyramid of El Castillo is really a casing built around
a smaller pyramid built exactly 52 years after the first
to mark the ending of a calendar round. You can actually
climb up inside El Castillo and visit the smaller pyramid.
Its entrance is located at the base of the pyramid and
is open from 11:00 am-1pm and 4-5 pm. it's extremely
narrow and hot inside with very slippery steps. Inside
is a large Chac-mool, the Toltec reclining figure that
is used as an altar for sacrificial offerings. Behind
the altar is the Throne of the Red Jaguar. There are
iron bars that keep you from touching the altar. You
should definately not try this if you are claustrophobic.
 Near
to the ball court is the Tzompantli, a word meaning
'wall of skulls.' It is a low T-shaped platform covered
on all sides by rows of carved skulls. Human sacrifices
are assumed to have been performed on this platform.
Casa
de las Aguilas, also known as Platform of the Jaguars
and Eagles, is close by the wall of skulls and is covered
by carvings of serpents and reliefs of eagles and jaguars
devouring human hearts. This platform is assumed to
also have been involved in human sacrifices. There is
evidence of occupation in the area as early as 700 BC,
but the city was not founded until 700 AD.
 The
Nunnery, a highly carved temple that is located a few
minutes walk from El Castille. Few tours make it this
far, but it is truly remarkable in the carvings that
decorate the panels. This is believed to have been the
main palace and administrative area in the early years
of Chichen. Take time to explore this set of buildings,
they include a very remarkable set of well preserved
Chac Mul carvings.
Caracol,
or the Observatory is one of the most unusual of the
the buildings at Chichen Itza. It is a round tower on
top of a large, two level platform. Most experts agree
that this building was used as an astronomical observatory
because openings in the building point to astrological
events such as the setting of the moon at the spring
equinox.
For Organised Tours:
Chichen
Itza day tour
Chichen
Itza Light & Sound
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